1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a media cartridge autoloader, and particularly relates to a media cartridge picker that moves a media cartridge in a media cartridge autoloader serving as a data storage unit.
2. Description of the Related Art
A typical media cartridge autoloader includes a media cartridge picker, a mail slot, at least one read/write media drive, and one or more media cartridge transport magazines. The media cartridge picker is configured to retrieve a media cartridge and transport it among the mail slot, the media drive, and the media cartridge transport magazine(s).
The media cartridge picker includes a base, a turntable configured to rotate on the base so as to change the orientation of the media cartridge, and a media cartridge transport mechanism provided on the turntable and configured to retrieve and transport the media cartridge. The media cartridge transport mechanism includes a rotary arm configured to rotate bi-directionally, a perpendicular cartridge pin configured to engage a notch formed in the media cartridge, and a mechanism configured to move the cartridge pin linearly and bi-directionally by the rotation of the rotary arm. In another embodiment, the cartridge pin can be moved non-linearly.
The cartridge pin and the rotary arm have predetermined home positions HP on the turntable, respectively. The home positions are where the cartridge picker and the rotary arm are located when the cartridge picker is in a reference state for starting operations.
When the media cartridge autoloader is turned on, the media cartridge transport mechanism of the media cartridge picker moves the rotary arm and the cartridge pin located arbitrarily to the corresponding home positions HP. Then, the media cartridge autoloader starts operations according to a command. The operation of moving the rotary arm and the cartridge pin to the home positions are referred to herein as a media cartridge transport mechanism initialization operation.
In the media cartridge transport mechanism initialization operation, the rotary arm is rotated in a predetermined direction until it comes into contact with a stopper. Then, from this position, which is defined as a reference position, the rotary arm is rotated through a predetermined angle in the opposite direction to stop at the home position HP.
However, because the rotary arm hits against the stopper every time the media cartridge autoloader is turned on, the rotary arm can have a limited durability.